Philippine Travel Notes

Another fairly new (to me) restaurant at the Tacloban Astrodome. Friday night, I arrived late in Tacloban from hinter-mountain-barangays of Burauen. I wanted a sea view dinner , to rest my eyes & soul from depressing scenes of the day. Driver said "challenge accepted" - as if I did not know, he was heading to Cafe Lucia hahaha! Alas di malas, it was full to every corner, me birthdayhan pang nagaganap! We ambled forward, rounding the Astrodome although we already knew every place would also be packed with diners - on a Friday night kaka-sweldo lang two days ago! Both driver and I prefer bars or restaurants facing Cancabato Bay for the views, and we usually park in front of the Samgyupsal place that we never visit - it's always full ! But, voila! A big group of young-and-old folks were just about leaving the restaurant beside Samgyeopsalicious. Driver even ran to grab one of their outside tables haha! I may be prone to forgetting this-and-that from-time-t...

Feast of the 3 Kings caught me in Tacloban, with nothing to do tomorrow, whatever the reason was! So, me, a friend and my driver went to Astrodome for dinner & beer! Found this "new" place (that we knew was named something else before). Ah these restaurants & bars around Astrodome keep coming and going - since after Yolanda! This one is now named burp! with an exclamation. And we said let's try it! First attraction: their menu is not an "album". It's just a single page, and we liked it! Oh yes, there are people who don't like the 'complication' of so many choices. Kami! That chicken thing tasted 'standard', but the sauce was fantastic. Plus, I had this! Ribs w/ a sauce fit for Pinoys ( not too sour ). Driver had that too and agrees with me. My friend had pork belly and said it tasted good. I tried it, oo nga, malambot din! Proof? They asked for an "extra rice" each! Ako? di na kinaya, malaki yung kanin! We...

Dandering ? Aw, let me use that as a synonym of ' drifting ', ' gallivanting ', ' wandering '! Roaming without an itinerary - all left to 'chances', by breaking away from my group! For that is what happened here hehe! Yep, I didn't really come to this place to tour-around, as I usually do. I joined a group of friends for a benevolent Christmas Day Program - but, with an itch to look beyond ! Shhh, huwag na maingay. Silip-silip lang naman ang ginawa ko! Not a bad idea, right? Aw, I stuck with our scheduled activities 100%. But there were chances - like during lunch breaks, I'd sneak away to look around and/or shoot pics! That said, everything I will tell you, were most likely unplanned or unintended. As we say in Tagalog: kung ano lang ang nakita, natagpuan, naranasan. In short: whatever! This gave me a different kind of thrill. So let me tell you about some of them! First, a briefer on the not so obvious things (to many Pinoys) ...

Party like there's no tomorrow! Aherm... I would have said that years ago, for in fact that was what I would usually do. Years ago haha! But I guess this thing does not even have to do with age. It's more on the "sawa factor" - meaning you have had enough! Kind of a 'the-same-old-nightlife-on-the-island-fatigue'! It is true. I'm not bragging! Don't get me wrong.., there are too many nightlife options on the island, sometimes even too many of the same. But if you've been visiting at say 2X or 3X a year, at times even 4X or 5X (kasal dito, birthday doon, team building nanaman, and relatives na nagpapasama), it becomes harder to find excitement! Not that I've literally been to all those places. But for me (I think for many of us) Boracay Nights does fall under the "law of diminishing returns" reality! Sorry po, estudyante ako ni Kumareng Winnie nyo! Anyway, since it now appears to be my 'responsibility' to keep telli...